Constant-volume and constant-compression engine and method of operating same



Dec. 18, 1928.

J. H. K. M COLLUM CONSTANT VOLUME AND CONSTANT COMPRESSION ENGINE AND METHOD OF OPERATING SAME Original Filed Jan. 19. 1 22 E /2\\ 2 C Q J) E v Q 5 A "I\S E A Z r-w V k 5; 5 Z4 Q g E z E 1 wsss 1 mm. fig gi avwmtoz Patented Dec. 11928. I UNITED STATES 1,695,714 PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES HARRY KEIGHLEY iaceonnum, or LONG BRANCH, NEW JERSEY, AssIeNoit or ONE-HALF T BARTLEY J. WRIGHT, or none BRANCH, NEW JERSEY, AND ONE- roun'rn r0 ALBERT J. BAR-UTE, or LAWR NCE, NEW YORK.

coNsrAN'r-vorumn A D CONSTANT-COMPRESSION ENGINE AND ING S ME.

METHOD "or oI'ERAT- Application filed January 19, 1922,.Seria1 No. 530,419. Renewed May 16, 1928.

My invention relates to improvements in internal combustion engines, of the constant volume'and constant compression type, and

the objects of my improvements are, first,

to obtain high economy; second, simplicitypf action; third, diminution in carbon deposit;

fourth, elimination of the necessity of the pistons B and D and of the air-intakes to compensating carburetor.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawin in which the figure is a vertical section 0 the engine.

A is the main cylinder, B the piston for same, C is the auxiliary cylinder, D the piston for same, both pistons are moved by the same crank E to which they are connected by the connecting rods F and G, both pistons move upwardly at the same time and down-. wardly at the same time. In the drawing the stroke of each piston is the same but the length of the stroke of the two pistons can be different.

. There are three valves, the exhaust valve H, the inlet valve I and the inlet valve J all mechanically driven in the ,well known way.

. I is the inlet valve for thecylinder A and J the inlet valve for the cylinder C, theexhaust valveH acts as the exhaust valve; for

both the cylinders A and C. There therefore is no exhaust valve for cyllnder G. K, L, M,N, O is a float chamber controlled mixing valve, P and Q, are Venturi tubes, R is i the foot accelerator, S a bell crank, T a

A different lengths of the connecting rods F and G and the general arrangement shown in the drawing is preferable Inlet valves I and J open and close practically at the same time but the timing of the valves I and J can b I altered to suit conditions.

The action of the engine is as follows:-

- The drawing shows the en "r. at the begin- V ning of the inlet stroke. T ere 1s no throttle valve used with this engine, so consequently the cylinders receive their full charges at all .times. The accelerator R is moved slightly towards the dash W, this draws the needle valve 0 slightly out of nozzle L and the engine is' started by self-starter or crank. The

mixture being drawn in through valve J and air only being drawn in through valve I, the proper proportioning of the combustion chambers and of the areas and strokes of the valves I and'J, and of said valves themselves pressed in space C and the air is compressed in the space B. The raising of the pressure in spaces B and C being the same, nothingflows "from space B to C or from space C to B, complete Stratification in a'practical sense takes place. The spark plug E fires the mixture charge in space 0' which in turn a is completely burnt by'the excess air com pressed in space B. The relative cubic contents of the cylinders A' and C are such that when a mixture just rich-enou h to make certain of firing is drawn into cylinder 0 this mixture when compressed and, fired will so heat the total charge in the engine that satisfactory idlin of the engine will take place or be obtaine To increase the power of the engine a little the foot accelerator is moved a little more towards the dash W, this pulls meedle valve 0 out of nozzle L a little more and the mixture .drawn into the cylinder C is made more rich, but when compressed and fired. is burnt completel bythe excessairin spaceB'. It may not e possible to enrich the mixture drawninto the cylinder'O enough to obtainthe maximum power of the engine sothe arrangement shown at T, U, N, M,

can be used, when the top of the link V strikes the stop. Y and the accelerator R is then moved farther toward'the'dash W, the resistance of the spring U is overcome and needleva'lve' N is pulled out of nozzle M. Mixture will then be drawn into both cylinders C and A'. 'A spark plug firing simultaneously with plug E can e used with cylinder A, said spark plug being shown at H. .The relative sizes of the Venturi tubes Q. and Bwill, when y C"- rovided there is no greater restriction 'of t e inflowing air by valves I and J, or

- elsewhere in the intake passages. If it can be found that the full power of the engine can be obtained without introducing. any mixture into the cylinder A, but by enriching the mixture being drawn into cylinder C, then the needle-valve N and nozzle M andlinkTwillbe' bell-crank S be attach spaces C, 'D' and B constitute the combustlon chamber of the engine. The connectmg passage D flares continuously from cylm er G to cylinder the side walls of said pafiiige being tangential to the walls of both cy ers,asisshownbytheabsenceofany vertical wall unction lmes in the drawing. The spring returns accelerator R to its place when spnessure of foot is released. The

-cra.nk can also be actuated by the handthrottle. This can be used as a single or multi le lin r engine, as is obvious to anyone in the art. The projection G isusedtokeepthemixturecominginthrou h the valve J from being forced into space B by its own momentum but this is not always required. The line or fuel level can be below the lev M or above the level of the tops of nozzles r 'L and M as shown by the dotted lines G and-D .or A and B. When used as a single cylinder engine the arrangement shown in F1 I can be employed. When used as a double cylinder engine the order will be bearing,

- large cylinder, small cylinder, small cylinder,

larger c linder, bearing. 'When used as a three cy inder on no the order will be bearin large lin er, small cylinder, lar e cy inder, sma cylinder, large cylinder, sma

cylinder and bearing. When used'as a four cylinder engine the order will be bearing, large cylinder, small cylinder, small cylinder, large cylinder, bearing, large cylinder, small cyhnder, smaliccylinder, large 0 linder, bean der, 5 5

or er will be bearin large cylinder, small cylinder, small cylin er, lar e c linder, bear- When u asa six cylin er engine the in large cylinder, small cy in er, small cylin er, large cylinder bearing, large cylinder, small 'cylmder, small cylin er, large cylinbearing. a g

It will thus be obvious how this engine can be used as a twin four or a. twin six cylinder engine by having two four cylinder engines .as above intwin arrangement or. by having 'rangement. It is a so in the art to understand how engines having two six cylinder engines as above in'twin arf plain to anyone skilled;

lubrication, because of low cylinder temperature's, smoothness of operation because of more .than eight or twelve cylinderscan be used-embodying my invention. When multiple cylinder engines em are used the manifolding must be taken into tothelinkV. The

of the tops of nozzles L and expansion bodying my invention consideration. The method of manifolding nected to all the arge cylinders having one venturi with or without nozzle, needle valve and float chamber to take care of the large cylinders. The usual exhaust manifold may or may not be used.

While the particular fomwf fuel graduating device, or carburetor, h" shown and described is operative, I have ound that more accurate fuel re lation canbe secured by uselpefdthe;1 form of carburetorlideson an aimedmm co ndmga cation, .Serial No. 708,271, fi.led Apr-il 22 3924.

An important advantag) of my herein described invention arises in the practically complete localization about the point of ignit-ion 'in the comprmion space C' of the smaller cylinder of the small charges of combustible mixture used when the motor is running under light loads, while maintaining free access-to the main cylinder for the expanding products of combustion resulting from ignition 0f the charge in C. In this way the formation of the mu desired stratified charge is successifully attained. At the same time the maximum output of power, obtainable only with maximum fuel supply andhighest volumetric eflicien can be secured by admitting additional e1 direct to the larger cylinder when full load is stigproached. There beingno throttling of e incoming air under any condition of engine operation, except such as may be created near the fuel nozzles by the venturis for the purpose of breakin up liquid fuel, the engine is times.

fuel is sup lied, and complete combustion, at

relatively ow cylinder temperatures, of any lesser quantities of fuel admitted under less than maximum load conditions. v Thislast mentioned result follows from the excess of oxygen always present in the larger-cylinder, and the maximum "quantity of'inertjgases (nitrogen of .the air and residual gases of combustion?) there present and available for y absorption of heat from the burning constituents of the charge. I therefore secure. inpractice all the theoretical advanta es of a motor operating with a stratified charge which include absence of carbon deposits in the combustion chamber high fuel-economy, because of com lete combus: tion, small radiation losses an economy of cushionin efiect of the .surplus air, and re-' duction o useless-work ordmanl expended carried, because its throttle, all throttling being eliminated at I I inlet passages.

These characteristics of my improved engine render it a highly desirable one for use in motor cars as it develops economy of fuel at moderate and slow speeds such as are emloyed 1n ordinary. driving on level roads and 1n city streets, while having 'in reserve immense power for hill climbing and heavy going. With my invention a large engine can be used with practically the same or even greater fuel efliciency at ten percent load than under maximum duty conditions. Also, when this engine is used in motor boats, high fueleconomy is attained at cruising speeds, 7

while the reserve power for speed bursts is also present.

The segregation of the combustible mixture at all times prior to ignition in a zone about the point of ignition is obviously effected by drawing said mixture into, and compressing it in, the small ignition chamber by mechanical means separate from the main piston in the larger cylinder, instead of requiring the suction of one large piston to fill'both chambers As the combustible mixture is drawn into the small cylinder and compressed therein by a separate piston, there is no opportunity for it to be mixed with any portion of the main charge of air, as has been the case when attempts have heretofore been made to compress the combustible charge by forcing into the chamber contain ing it a portion of the main or incombustible. charge undergoing compression. Consequently, a plane of demarcation is always substantially preserved between said zone of combustible mixture in the small ignition chamber and the larger body of air, or of less combustible mixture, in the main cylinder or have an open connection between them, and this is important because any constriction of this connection would evidently reduce the efficiency of the engine as it would partly throttle the expansion of the burning gases in the smaller ignition chamber when they seek to flow out into the main cylinder. In the particular embodiment of my invention here shownthe separate suction and compression means comprises the smaller cylinder C and the piston D therein which is directly connected to the main crank, but obviously some other se )arate mechanism might be substit'uted for this purpose.

It is apparent therefore that my invention "embodies a new method of developing variable power by stratified charges in that type of combustion engine in which the fuel is sucked in, as distinguished from being forced in, to the combustion chamber, which method has as its mam novel features, the simultane- 'ous admission of the maximum, and therefore nearly constant charges of air at substantially constant tension to separate but connected combustion chambers of widely different cubic capacities, the admission of graduated quantities of fuel to the smaller combustion chamber, the compression of the combustible and non-combustible charges so formed in their respective chambers and without intermingling them, and the ignition in said smaller chamber of the combustible charge so formed and compressed therein. This method of procedure might be carried into operation by difierent apparatus from that herein shown and described but which would still embody the broad principle of my invention. Having described my invention, I claim: 1. An internal combustion engine of the compression type having in combination a 1 main cylinder and piston reciprocating therein,'an ignition chamber separate from, but having a substantially unrestricted connection with, said main cylinder, means for admitting charges of air at substantially atmos-' pheric pressuresimultaneously to both said main cylinder and said chamber during each cycle of operation ofthe engine, mechanism separate from, but operating synchronously with,'the piston in said main cylinder for giving substantially the same degree of compression to the char e in saidchamber as is given to that in sai cylinder by the piston in the latter, ap aratus for feeding graduated quantitieso fuel to said chamber and an ignition device located in said chamber.

2. A combination such asset forth in claim '1 in which saidLfuel feeding apparatus discharges into t chamber.

3. A combination such as set forth in claim 1 in which said ignition device is located adjacentto the fuel inlet to said ignition chamair inlet to said ignition ber. compression chamber, although these itwb 4. A combination such asset forth in claim 1 in which said mechanism for compressing the charge in said ignition chamber comprises a small cylinder and a. piston therein connected to a crank rotated by the piston in the main'cylinders 5. A combination such asset forth in claim -1 in which there is a single exhaust port which opens from said main cylinder.

6-. A combination such as set forth in claim 1 in which said means for admitting charges of air comprises separate valves, one 0on trolling admission to said main cylinder and the other controlling admission to said ignition chamber.

' cylinder.

8. An internal combustion engine of the compression type having, in combination, a crank shaft, a main cylinder of relatively large capacity with a piston reciprocating therein and connected to said crank shaft, a second cylinder of relatively much smaller capacity with a piston reciprocating therein and also connected to said crank shaft, an-

unobstructed passageway connectin theends of said cylinders farthest removed crank shaft, means for admitting fullcharges of air to both saidc ratus for feeding graduate quantities of fuel to said smaller ylinder,

during the intake stroke of the piston therein, and an igni-' tion device located in the compression space ofsaid smaller cylinder.

9. A combination such asset forth in claim '8 in which said, fuel feeding apparatus discharges into the air inlet to said smaller cylinder.

10. A combination such as set forth in claim 8 in which said ignition device is located adjacent to the fuel inlet to said smaller cylinder. V

11. A combination such as set .forth,in claim 8 in .Whichthere is a single exhaust port which opens from said larger cylinder.

v12. A combination 'such as set forth in claim 8 in which said means for admitting from said linders, appacharges of air comprises separate valves one controlling admission to each of saidcylin-- ders respectively.

13. A combination such as set forth in claim 8 in which said passageway connecting 14. A combination such as set forth in I c1aim'8 in which the means for admitting a full charge of air to said smaller cylinder comprises an, air-intake conduit and a valve controlling said conduit, and in which said fuel feeding apparatus discharges into said conduit outside of said valve. a

15. An apparatus suchas set forth in claim 8 combined with separate means for admitting additional graduated quantities of fuel to said larger cylinder.

16. An internal combustion en ine ofthe compression type having, in com ination, a crank shaft, two cylinders with pistons there in connected to said crank shaft, an unobstructed passageway connecting the ends of said cylinders furthest removed from said crank shaft, means for admitting full charges of air to both said cylinders, a paratus for feeding graduated quantities. 0 fuel to one of said cylinders during the intake stroke of mentioned cylinder.

8 JAMES HARRY KEIGHLEY McCOLLUM. 

